


Welcome to Arcadia

by Willowwren



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, F/M, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-24
Updated: 2014-09-15
Packaged: 2018-01-26 09:12:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 21,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1682939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Willowwren/pseuds/Willowwren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where the hundred are just a bunch of kids trying to make it through college.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been thinking about how different (or not) the characters would be if they were just a bunch of regular kids trying to survive college instead of trying to survive earth. I've purposefully refrained from setting up any couples just yet. We'll see what happens. Enjoy!

“This movie is stupid.” Raven muttered with a mouth full of ice cream.  
“It was your idea to watch it.” Clarke laughed. She agreed, it was a dumb movie. There’s no way airport security would have let him through just so he could stop the girl from getting on the plain.  
“Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do? Eat my weight in ice cream and watch romantic comedies with my best friend?” She stabbed at the ice cream like it was Finn’s face and her spoon was actually a knife.  
“I don’t know. I’ve never gone through a break up.” Clarke shrugged.  
Raven breaking up with Finn had made for an interesting week. The two had been together ever since Finn realized Raven’s mom was abusive when they were eight. When he moved away she had followed him six months later expecting all of his new friends to be excited to meet the girl he never stopped talking about. Instead they were surprised to meet the girlfriend no one knew he had.  
Clarke was a little more upset than everyone else. She thought she had found her first boyfriend in Finn, instead she found an idiot with a secret girlfriend.  
“Did you know he was in love with you?” Raven asked.  
She had been switching between ‘I am an independent woman who don’t need no man’ and ‘what did I do wrong’ all night.  
“He said a few things before you got here. When I found out you existed I never really let myself be alone with him so he didn’t have a chance to tell me anything.”  
“Maybe it isn’t his fault, you know?” Raven scooped another chunk of rocky road into her mouth. “Maybe he was going to break up with me and I was an idiot who thought he wanted me to move out here with him.”  
“No. Raven, Finn is a classic douche bag. You don’t need him. We’re going to college in three months, there will be plenty of rebound guys and maybe even one or two worth keeping around.”  
“Yeah!” Raven said with renewed spirit.  
“Yeah!” Clarke agreed with a laugh.  
They clicked their respective ice cream tubs together in a mock toast to all of the men they were going to make out with in the near future. Their movie reached a tearful yet happy conclusion when the doorbell rang.  
“Pizza!” They shouted in unison and stumbled into the kitchen to find where Clarke’s mom had left the money.  
“Hold on!” Clarke yelled in the direction of the door.  
She found the money wedged under the cookie jar and ran for the door.  
“Cough twice if he’s cute and I’ll pretend you need help carrying the pizza!” Raven whispered as she turned the corner.  
Clarke realized in horror that she was wearing pink pajama pants with cupcakes all over them and no bra under her flimsy tank top, but it was too late. The door was open and she was left face to face with Bellamy Blake.  
“Bellamy?” She couldn’t hide her confusion. “What are you doing here?”  
“Nice to see you too, Princess. I like your pants.” He smirked and looked her up and down.  
Clarke shrank under his gaze. She had never known Octavia’s brother very well, but he was always good at making her fell uncomfortable.  
“I thought you joined the army.”  
“That was the plan. Turns out military life isn’t for me.”  
“But delivering pizza fulfills all of your needs?” She crossed her arms over her chest. Mostly to conceal things that were usually kept at bay by under garments.  
“Not all of us can survive off of our Mommy’s money.” He shoved the pizza towards her.  
Somehow the conversation had turned sour. Clarke felt the need to apologize but she remembered all of the times he had tormented her and Octavia throughout high school.  
“Hey have you talked to Octavia lately? She was supposed to be here tonight but she bailed last minute.” The thought of Octavia made her ask.  
“Don’t worry about her she’s fine.”  
Clarke handed him the two twenties that her mom had left. He tried to give one of them back but she wouldn’t take it.  
“You bought one small pizza, Clarke.”  
“I’m no pizza delivery expert but I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to tip you.”  
“This is an almost thirty dollar tip.”  
“Don’t worry.” She stepped back inside and closed the door until he could only see her head through the crack. “It’s my Mommy’s money.”  
She closed the door and went back into the kitchen.  
“Not cute?” Raven was disappointed.  
“It was Octavia’s brother.”  
Raven had never met Octavia’s brother or mom. They weren’t a very open family.  
Another doorbell ring interrupted Raven’s response.  
“I swear if he’s trying to give me that money back I’m just going to throw more at him.” Clarke muttered.  
Instead of Bellamy at the door it was two unexpected faces.  
“Hello, dear friends.” Monty practically yelled when Clarke opened the door.  
“We come bearing libations.” Jasper held up two six packs.  
“Aren’t you two supposed to be getting Finn drunk right now?” Raven asked.  
“We chose Mommy in the divorce.” Monty slipped in between the two girls and headed straight for the kitchen. “I smell pizza!”  
“Sweet.” Jasper followed him and the two attacked the small pepperoni and black olive pizza with surprising force.  
“I guess I should order another one.” Clarke sighed.  
Twenty minutes later Bellamy didn’t even have a chance to ring the doorbell before Clarke opened it.  
“You can really pack it away, can’t you Princess?” He didn’t look as amused as he sounded.  
“I’m not by myself.”  
“Bellamy!” Monty bumped into her from behind. “How’s it going man?”  
“Hey, Monty.” He put the pizza in his outstretched hand.  
“You’re going to Arcadia this semester aren’t you?” Monty asked him.  
“Yeah.”  
Clarke was surprised. As far as she remembered Bellamy had never been one for school. He had always seemed too preoccupied.  
“Cool. Maybe we’ll see you around then.”  
“Don’t tell me you’re all going to the same college?” Bellamy laughed.  
“What? It’s close to home, has the best programs for all of our intended majors-.” Clarke started.  
“And it’s the state’s best party school.” Jasper added from the kitchen.  
“Hey Jasper.” Bellamy called.  
“Is there something wrong with your sister?” He left the kitchen, pizza in hand.  
“No, she’s fine.” Bellamy flexed his jaw, a sure sign of irritation.  
“Hi, I’m Raven.” Raven joined them around the door.  
Clarke felt like they were pushing her into him.  
“Good for you.”  
She handed him another twenty and pushed her friends back into her house.  
“Keep the change.”  
His protests were muffled by a closed door.  
“What part of cough twice if he’s cute don’t you understand?” Raven asked as Monty and Jasper went to set up a dancing game on her game station.  
“You think Bellamy’s cute?” Clarke wouldn’t have ever used that word to describe him.  
“I think he’s on my to-do list.” Raven nudged her conspiratorially and wagged her eyebrows.  
“Raven!” Clarke gasped and laughed.  
“I’m kidding! He’s all yours.” She winked at her and went to join the boys.  
Clarke watched her friends with a smile that was slowly fading. Bellamy Blake was going to be at Arcadia with them. There was definitely something going on with Octavia. She had at least two classes with Finn.  
She shoved all of those thoughts down and took a sip of cheap beer. Her friends were with her and they were having fun so she should be having fun too. She could worry about the awkwardness that was the beginning of her first semester of college later.


	2. Chapter 2

Raven, Clarke, and Octavia stood in the doorway of their new apartment.   
“It’s smaller than I remember.” Octavia frowned at their limited floor space.  
“That’s because last time we were here our furniture wasn’t.” Clarke picked up an empty box and set it on the kitchen counter. “We’ll get used to it.”  
“Yeah, come on O! Cheer up! We have a party to get ready for!” Raven shoved her friend toward their rooms. “Help me pick out an outfit.”  
“Is anyone else kind of terrified of who’s going to be there?” Clarke asked as Raven curled her hair.  
“Like Wells?” Octavia asked, earning her a snort from Raven.  
“Ugh, if he’s there I’m leaving. He wasn’t even supposed to come to Arcadia! He was accepted to Harvard, but as soon as he hears I’m coming here he applies too.”  
“Face it Clarke. You have a stalker.” Raven looked at her in the mirror as she finished her hair.  
“Yeah a stalker who got my dad thrown in jail.”   
Raven and Octavia didn’t know the whole story behind Clarke’s dad’s incarceration. They knew Wells and his father were involved, and that Clarke thought her dad didn’t deserve it. He certainly didn’t deserve to get beaten to death in jail.   
“Well if he is there he’s just going to have to watch you flirt with every other guy there because you are looking hella fine.” Octavia pulled on a pair of shoes. “What do you think?”  
“Are you going for stripper?” Raven asked.  
“Yes.”  
“Then they’re perfect.”   
The girls finished getting ready and left their apartment. Clarke locked the door behind them.  
“I’m already regretting these shoes.” Octavia complained as they walked to the frat house where the party was being held.  
“Strippers can’t be choosers.” Raven hooked her arm with Octavia’s to offer some support.  
They reached the party precisely when they meant to. Octavia had studied up on when to arrive at college parties.   
“See anyone we know?” Raven asked.  
“Find the keg and you’ll find Monty and Jasper.” Clarke snorted.  
“Twenty bucks says they brought it.”   
“I call not taking care of them when they throw up on each other.” Clarke and Octavia laughed, but Raven was too busy staring at something.  
They followed her line of sight until they found Finn in the corner talking to some guy.   
“Oh great.” Raven muttered. “I’m gonna go find Jasper and Monty.”  
She disappeared into the crowd.  
“Who’s he talking to?” Octavia asked. She tried to pull Clarke closer to them but she wouldn’t budge.  
“Wells. He’s talking to Wells.”  
They set off after Raven, but it wasn’t long before some football player pulled Octavia away to dance. Clarke was left alone in a crowd of complete strangers. Someone spilled beer on her dress and somehow she had gotten ranch dip in her hair.   
“Need a napkin, Princess?”  
She knew that voice, and she wasn’t exactly in the mood for his condescension. She turned around to see Bellamy Blake holding out a napkin to her.  
“Thanks.” She muttered and used the napkin to get the dip out of her hair.  
“Having fun?”  
“Not particularly.” She glanced over at Wells and Finn. Not that she would be having fun if they weren’t here, it was just that Wells made her angry and Finn made her uncomfortable.  
“So which one bothers you? Joyrider or the Dean’s son?”  
“Both, not that it’s any of your business.”  
“Calm down, Princess. I’m just trying to make conversation.” He handed her a red cup. “You seemed lonely.”  
“Raven disappeared and your sister made a new friend.” She pointed to where Octavia was dancing (if you could call it that) with the football player.  
“Ah one of the mighty Grounders, best football team this side of the Mississippi.” He didn’t sound amused. “I’ll have to talk to her about that.”  
Clarke laughed at his protectiveness. “She can take care of herself.”  
“Normally I would argue with you but I think you should know that there are two guys headed this way and both of them bother you.”  
Clarke tried to find them in the crowd but she was too short. “Can you see Raven?”  
“Raven?”  
“You met her at my house!” Clarke was growing desperate. If she found Raven she could probably keep at least Finn at bay.  
“What was he doing at your house?” It was too late. Finn was glaring at Bellamy.  
“I really don’t see how that’s any of your business.” Clarke frowned at him and angled herself so she was almost touching Bellamy.  
“Hey Clarke.” Wells was nervous.  
“This is weird. I’m leaving.” Bellamy announced and left.  
“Wells.” Clarke replied but her eyes were scanning the room looking for any sign of her friends.  
“We should hang out sometime, Clarke. I miss you.” Finn touched her arm and Clarke tried to ignore the electricity that shot straight to her heart.  
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Finn.” She glanced at Wells, waiting for him to say something. “I’m going to go find Raven.”  
She shoved her way into the crowd before either boy had a chance to stop her. Sure enough Jasper and Monty were at the keg. They cheered when they saw her and filled her cup.   
“Have you guys seen Raven?”  
“Nope.” Jasper said into his newly empty cup. “Have you seen Octavia?”  
“Yeah, she’s dancing with some guy.”  
“Oh.” Jasper’s crush on Octavia was a secret from no one.  
“Hey, there’s Raven.” Monty pointed to the stairs where Raven was huddled close to a guy none of them recognized.  
“Rebound number one.” Clarke laughed.  
She spent the rest of the night drinking with Monty and Jasper. When Octavia and Raven finally made their ways over to her they hadn’t even had one drink but she was trashed. Both of them brought a boy with them.  
“This is Lincoln.” Octavia announced and presented her tall, dark, and handsome new friend like he was a trophy.  
“This is Murphy.” Raven nodded at her own guy. He wasn’t quite the looker that Lincoln was, but few men were.  
“Oh hello there.” Clarke slurred.   
“Hey, Murphy I think I’m gonna head out.” Someone came up behind Murphy.  
“Hey!” Clarke yelled at the newcomer. “You left me!”  
“Yeah, I’m not in the habit of making myself unnecessarily uncomfortable. That being said.” He pointed at the guy holding his sister’s hand. “Who the hell is that?”  
“His name is Lincoln. Don’t be such a jerk, Bellamy.” Everyone recognized Octavia’s defensive voice.  
“You’re what? A senior?” Bellamy asked.  
“Yeah.”  
“What are you doing hanging around freshmen?”  
“Bellamy! Shut up!” Octavia pulled Lincoln away from the group. “Lincoln is walking me home.”  
Bellamy followed them.  
“That doesn’t seem like it’s going to end well.” Clarke had sobered up just a little.  
“I don’t suppose you could stop him?” Raven asked Murphy.  
“Probably not. You wanna get out of here?” He nodded at the back door.  
“Sure.” Raven let him pull her away.  
“Oh great. We’re alone again.” Clarke said to Monty and Jasper who, she realized a moment later, were no longer there. “Oh no, it’s just me.”   
She got up and stumbled to the front yard, where she wasn’t at all surprised to see Bellamy and Lincoln fighting. Octavia was standing off to the side yelling for her brother to stop. Clarke went to stand at Octavia’s side, but being drunk, she didn’t walk very straight and got a little too close to the fight. Lincoln’s elbow caught her right on the nose.  
“Clarke!” Octavia yelled and suddenly she was hovering above Clarke.  
Bellamy showed up on her other side.  
“Ow.” Clarke managed to croak out.  
“Good job, man. Do you make a habit out of hitting women?” Bellamy sneered at Lincoln.  
“It wasn’t his fault! He didn’t see her.” Octavia shoved him.   
“I’m okay.” Clarke tried to sit up but it made her dizzy and she fell into Bellamy.  
“What’s going on here?” A new voice joined the mix as Bellamy helped Clarke stand.  
“Just an accident.” Bellamy said.  
“Clarke?” Finn was worried.  
Clarke groaned into Bellamy’s chest where she was blocking every speck of light that she could.  
“I’ll help her home.” Finn announced.  
Bellamy handed her off to Finn who picked her up in his arms.  
“Hey! Put me down!” She tried to push away from him but he held tight.  
She shot a glare over his shoulder at Bellamy who was letting this happen. Octavia was too concerned about Lincoln’s fresh black eye to even notice the predicament her friend was in. Bellamy just shrugged and chuckled at her discomfort. He didn’t have a mark on him except for some slightly bloody knuckles and it made Clarke wonder where he had learned how to fight.   
“Are you okay?” Finn asked as he carried her home.  
Clarke thought maybe she should ask him how he knew where she lived, but decided to save that one for later.  
“I’m fine. Perfectly capable of walking.”   
“I don’t want you falling again.”  
He didn’t put her down until they were right in front of her door. She didn’t need to unlock it because Raven was already there and she opened the door when she heard them coming. She pulled Clarke inside and glared at Finn.   
“Hi Raven.” He said sheepishly.  
She didn’t answer him, she just slammed the door closed and helped Clarke get ready for bed. When Octavia finally got home the three of them huddled into their tiny bathroom to take off their makeup and take down their hair.  
“So that was eventful.” Raven broke the awkward silence.  
“I really like Lincoln.” Octavia sighed.  
“Your brother really doesn’t.” Clarke snorted.  
Octavia made an unkind suggestion about where she was going to put her foot next time Bellamy said anything about Lincoln.   
“Murphy seemed nice.” Clarke said.  
“He’s okay.” Raven shrugged.   
“If this is any indication about how the rest of the semester is going to go, I’m not sure we’re going to survive.” Clarke giggled. She was still pretty tipsy.  
They filed from their bathroom to their bedrooms and said goodnight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So since there are still some elements of the show I want to include I decided I kind of want to catch up and went ahead and posted another chapter today.


	3. Chapter 3

Clarke spent her Saturday morning trying to ignore her massive hangover. Octavia made her coffee and Raven forced her to eat some bacon before they ran off to find their brand new romantic interests. She thought about calling Jasper or Monty to see if they wanted to walk around campus with her but then she looked in the mirror and saw her black eye. 

"No!" She groaned as she gingerly pressed her fingers angainst the edges of the bruise to see how bad it hurt. "Great. My first class is in two days and I have a shiner."

She resolutely decided she wouldn't be leaving the apartment until she absolutely had to. 

A knock at the door made her step back and look at the rest of her. Ratty old jeans, old green t-shirt full of holes, and her fuzzy socks would have to be considered presentable for now. She was unhappy to discover they didn't have a peephole so she kept the chain lock in place when she opened the door. 

"What are you doing here?" She asked when she saw Bellamy through the small crack that the chain allowed. 

"Wow. That was an even worse greeting than the last time I was at your door." He laughed. 

"Last time you had food." She shut the door long enough to unlock it and reopened it. 

"You look horrible." He winced when he saw her eye. 

"Gee thanks." 

"Where's Octavia?" He pushed past her into their apartment. "Octavia?"

"She isn't here." Clarke kept the door open hoping he'd take the hint and leave. 

"She's with him isn't she?" He frowned at her. 

"You know, I think the more you're against him the more she's all for him." 

"I'm supposed to be taking care of her." Bellamy ran his hands through his dark curls and sat on the couch. 

Clarke sighed and closed the door. This was not how she saw her morning going. 

"Most girls go to college without a big brother to look after them and they do just fine."

"Not just at college. I promised my mom I wouldn't let anything happen to her." He leaned back on the couch and stared at the moisture stained ceiling. 

"That doesn't sound fair to me." Clarke sat next to him, not touching, but close. 

"Okay Princess, we're venturing a little too close to touchy feely for my taste." He stood up and went to the door. "Tell Octavia I stopped by and out some meat on that eye. I'll see you Monday."

He was gone before she had a chance to ask why they would be seeing each other on Monday. 

Sunday went by without much happening. Octavia was gone all day and Clarke stayed in her room to avoid seeing Raven and Murphy making out on the couch. 

Raven woke Clarke up early Monday morning so they could all help each other get ready for class. 

"I just have a bunch of math classes which means weird math nerds." Raven complained. "Unlike miss premed here who gets to spend her days with a bunch of future hot doctors."

She nudged Clarke who was trying very hard to cover up the lingering yellow of her bruise. 

"And Octavia doesn't care who's in her classes because Lincoln is so perfect." Clarke teased. "And my first class is psych 101 so most of them won't even be future doctors."

Octavia's first class was at 9:00, Raven's at 9:20, and Clarke's at 10:00. They all left to walk Octavia to her class and Raven got to her's early. At 9:40 Clarke entered her classroom and took a seat in the front row. 

Students trickled in after her. Most of them choosing seats near the back. She held in a groan when someone sat right next to her. 

"Hey."

She let out the groan when she saw it was Finn. 

"You've got to be kidding me." She shook her head in disbelief. 

"Clarke I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable. Just give me a chance." He looked at her with puppy eyes. "Please."

She didn't have a chance to reply because their professor walked in. 

"Good morning. I am professor Kane, this is my TA, Bellamy Blake. He will be grading all of your papers and doing whatever else I ask him to. For instance." He pulled a stack of papers from his briefcase and handed them to Bellamy. "He's bringing around your syllabus. It has all assignment due dates in it so don't lose it."

Bellamy winked at her when he walked by. Finn glared at him. She wasn't completely sure why Finn disliked him so much but it tempted her to spend a lot of time with him just to piss Finn off. 

She spent the rest of class ignoring Finn. When professor Kane dismissed them she picked up her backpack and made a beeline for Bellamy before Finn could stop her. 

"You're majoring in psychology?" She asked in lieu of a greeting. 

"Nope." He held up a finger to stop her from talking again and turned to the professor. "Do you need me to stick around, sir?"

Kane quirked an eyebrow when he saw Clarke. "Not today. Go ahead."

Bellamy gathered his things and they walked out of the classroom together. 

"I can't believe you just used me like that, Princess." He said with more amusement than anger. 

"Use you?"

"To make Joyrider jealous or angry or whatever." 

"He doesn't like you. I don't know why but it makes you a very good deterant." She shrugged. "So how does a non-psych major end up TA-ing a psych class."

"My mom did a favor for one of the people who decides those things." 

"Well if you ever accidentally forget to mark things wrong on my papers I won't tell on you." She smiled up at him. 

"Oh no, Princess." He veered away from her and she knew she wasn't supposed to follow him. "I'm not gonna make this easy for you."

Clarke sighed. One class in and college was already more stressful than her entire high school career.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super short chapter today. I promise the next one will be longer!

"Murphy is in one of my classes." Raven groaned as she sank onto the couch next to Clarke. 

"Why is that bad?"

"What if I don't want to hang out anymore. Then it will be awkward every time I see him."

"You don't want to hang out with him anymore do you?" Clarke already knew the answer but asked anyway. 

"Remember how we were gonna get as many guys as we could? I don't want to just latch onto the first guy who shows interest. I don't want to end up with another Finn." 

"Speaking of Finn, he's in one of my classes." Clarke looked at her friend to gauge her reaction. 

"Seriously?"

Clarke nodded. 

"That sucks."

"Yeah."

"This calls for ice cream." Raven crossed their tiny living room into their tiny kitchen to get ice cream from their tiny fridge. She brought two spoons and handed one to Clarke. 

They found a weird movie on Netflix and had ice cream for dinner. At some point during the movie they could hear Octavia giggling outside their door. 

"What do you think of Lincoln?" Clarke asked Raven. 

"Eh, he's okay." Raven shrugged. "Kinda quiet."

"As long as Octavia likes him I guess."

Neither of them would say that she was spending too much time with him but they both thought it. 

"Do you know who rebound number two is gonna be yet?" Clarke asked mostly to distract then Octavia's annoying flirtatious giggle. 

"His name is Miller." 

Clarke couldn't help but laugh at Raven's methodical approach to dating. She was more the type to let men come to her, which was probably why none but Finn ever had. Raven tended to take things into her own hands. They may have been similar in a lot of ways but they were also different in a lot of ways. 

When Octavia finally came inside her lips were red and puffy and her hair was disheveled. 

"What on earth could you two have been doing out there?" Raven was completely deadpan. 

"Having fun. Unlike you two." She snatched the tub of ice cream away. "You're just begging for the freshmen fifteen."

"I have no one to impress. Give it back." Clarke whined. 

"You aren't going to find anyone to impress if you're waddling around campus." Octavia threw the rest of the ice cream away. 

"Oh please, if I got that big I would obviously get a motorized scooter." 

Raven and Octavia laughed and just like that Clarke's day wasn't too bad. They told each other all about the classes they'd had so far. The rest if their night was filled with laughter and gossip. None of them had Tuesday classes so they made plans for a homemade spa day. 

College was proving to be stressful, but they were all pretty good at leaning on each other. 

The next morning they made omelets and bacon and watched How I Met Your Mother. After breakfast they made mud masks and (after laughing hysterically at each other) painted their toe nails. 

For lunch they ordered pizza. When the doorbell rang Clarke wiped her mud mask off and waddled to the door so she wouldn't mess up her toes. 

"You eat pizza way too often." Bellamy said when she opened the door. "You know you can just tell me if you want to see me. You don't have to keep calling Papa John's"

"You're sister so kindly pointed out to me that if I'm going to gain my freshman fifteen I'm going to have to work for it." She took the pizza and handed it to Raven who was hiding behind the door so he couldn't see her in her mask. 

"Yes well my sister isn't always very nice." He said loud so he was sure she could hear him. 

"Screw you, Bellamy." She yelled back. 

"We're in the middle of a small argument." He said as if she didn't know. 

"Yeah, trust me. I've heard all about it." She handed him enough money for the pizza and not a penny more. 

He looked at her expectantly. 

"Oh I see." She laughed at him. "You don't like it when I tip and you don't like it when I don't tip. There is just no pleasing you."

She closed the door in his face. 

"You still have mud on your forehead Princess." He called through the door. 

"Go away Bellamy!" Octavia yelled. 

Raven and Clarke exchanged a look. Octavia could be really stubborn. Even once she realized that her brother just had her best interests in mind she would probably go on hating him just because she didn't want to be wrong. They were on the lookout for a good time to host and intervention.


	5. Chapter 5

On Thursday night Raven told Murphy that she didn't want to see him anymore. He friends tried to console her on Friday morning as they ate breakfast, but she wouldn't have it.

"It's not like I loved the guy." She shrugged. "I was just having fun."

Clarke and Octavia exchanged a look.

"Besides, I wanted to free myself up for the party tonight." She added with a grin.

"What about that Miller guy?" Clarke asked.

"I'll hook up with him later." Raven shrugged again. "I just want to rub some guy in Finn's face tonight."

"Assuming he's there tonight." Octavia said.

"I hope he is." Raven finished her pop tart and threw her trash away.

"I don't. I already have to see him today because of class." Clarke groaned.

"Speaking of that, I had a thought." Raven came back to the table and looked at Clarke. The was a twinkle in her eye that made the other two slightly uncomfortable. "You should lead him on."

"What?" Clarke and Octavia said in unison.

"You can make him think you like him, then when he tells you he loves you dump his ass and break his hear like he broke mine." Raven bounced excitedly in her seat but stopped when she realized they weren't joining her in her enthusiasm.

"That's terrible Raven." Octavia said meekly.

Raven's intensity frightened them. She wasn't afraid to get in people's faces and tell them exactly what she thought or do whatever she needed to get even with someone. They loved her but sometimes it was embarrassing to be associated with her.

"Fine. Whatever." She pretended not to care, but they both knew she felt betrayed. "I have to go to class."

She gathered her things and left.

"Am I a terrible friend for not wanting to help her?" Clarke asked Octavia as they cleaned up their messes.

"No. You're the best friend a person could ask for." Octavia pulled her in for a quick hug. "I have to go too."

She left Clarke worrying about hurting Raven's feelings.

When she made it to her own class she sat in the same seat as Monday. Bellamy was already there but he didn't look up from his desk.

"Hi." Finn said when he sat next to her.

"Hey." She said back.

"That is the most civil you've been to me since the whole thing with Raven went down." He gave her a genuine smile.

"You really expected me to be civil towards you after all of that?"

"Is it my fault I had feelings for two people at the same time?" Clarke hadn't let him explain himself so he was using this opportunity to do just that. He was begging her to understand his side of the story but she was refusing. 

"Uhhh yeah. Yeah it is definitely your fault." She looked away from him only to find Bellamy staring at them. 

He didn't look happy, but Clarke couldn't put her finger on whatever emotion it was he was conveying. When he saw her looking at him he perked up and looked back and forth between her and Finn. He winked and inclined his head towards Finn as if saying 'make your move.' Clarke didn't know what came over her but she stuck her tongue out at him like a little kid. He only laughed at her and went back to whatever it was he was doing. She wanted to wad up a piece of paper and throw it at him; anything for an excuse not to talk to Finn. She was saved from needing to by the arrival of Professor Kane. 

He was a good lecturer, but he was also a no nonsense teacher. He wouldn't accept late homework and his door was locked the minute class was supposed to start. He was the 'come on time or don't come at all' type. Clarke liked that because that's how she was. 

With twenty minutes left in class someone came in and handed Bellamy a little slip of green paper. They had a key to unlock the door which meant they were and administrative messenger. Bellamy read the paper and looked up at her. For the next twenty minutes Clarke agonized over what it could possibly be about.

When Kane dismissed them Bellamy came up to her.

"This is for you." He handed her the slip. "Dean Jaha wants to see you."

"He couldn't wait until Thanksgiving?" Clarke muttered, not meaning for either of them to hear her. She slipped the paper into her pocket without bothering to read it.

"Thanksgiving?" Finn asked.

"Our families are really close." She shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. In her opinion it wasn't. He had been best friends with her Father and he was like an uncle to her.

"So why do you hate his son?" Bellamy leaned forward on the desk the was still sitting in.

"That is a very long and personal story that I am not going to tell you." She smiled up at him with little sincerity. "It's going to take me all day to find his office."

"I know where it is. I'll take you." Finn stood up and offered her his hand.

"There you go, Princess. Your own personal escort." Bellamy grinned.

Finn and Clarke glared at him for different reasons. Clarke ignored Finn's hand and stood up on her own.

"Blake." Kane called for his TA.

"Have fun you two." He winked at them and went to see what the professor needed.

Clarke followed Finn without saying anything. He led her across campus towards the administrative building.

"You know I was going to break up with her before she followed me out here. It just isn't easy leaving someone you've been with since middle school even when you know you want to be with someone else." Finn said after several minutes of awkward silence. "Just so you know I wasn't using it the night we- you know."

"You used me to cheat on her Finn." Clarke's throat had gone dry at the mention of their one night together.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. I honestly thought I was never going to see her again, let alone that you two would meet and become friends."

Clarke had stopped being mad at him a long time ago, she just wouldn't admit it to anyone. Not to herself, and especially not to him. She didn't answer him and they walked the rest of the way to Jaha's office in silence.

Jaha's receptionist smiled up at her when she approached her desk.

"How can I help you?" Asked the nice, grandmother-like woman.

"I'm Clarke Griffin." She handed her the wadded up piece of paper. "I have an appointment, I guess."

"Go on through." She pointed at a door to the left of her desk.

Clarke didn't even look back at Finn before she went into the Dean's office. 

It was strange seeing Jaha in a professional setting. She wasn't quite sure what to do with herself. 

"Hey kid." He got rid of the tension by coming around to her side of the desk and pulling her into a hug. "How's college life treating you?"

"I'm still getting used to it I think." She sat down in the big leather swivel chair behind his desk. She didn't want to worry him by telling him about her somewhat chaotic social life. He would tell her mom and that would just escalate her already record high stress level.

"Have you seen Wells around?" He asked without looking at her.

She frowned at him. He knew very well how she felt about Wells.

"That's what I thought. And that's why I called you in here. Your Mother and I decided it's time you knew." He sat on his desk in front of her.

She wanted to storm out. She had long since grown tired of them trying to get her to forgive Wells, but something made her stay. He sounded different than he usually did when he was about to list off his son's many amiable qualities.

"You always assumed it was Wells who betrayed your Father's secret, but he wasn't the only one who knew it he was just the only one that you told."

"It was you?"

"No."

"Mom?" She choked on the word.

Jaha didn't answer, he didn't need to. Clarke could tell by the look on his face that she had guessed right.

She could no longer breathe normally. Her lungs weren't filling up enough and it felt like something was expanding in her chest, making it so her heart couldn't beat correctly. Jaha put his hands on either side of her face so she had to look at him.

"She did what she thought was best for your family. She didn't think he would get arrested. She thought at most he would get fired. She had no way of knowing that he would die in prison. You can't blame her for that."

"She let me be mad at Wells. You all did."

"When he realized that you blamed him he asked us not to correct you. He din't want you to be mad at your Mother after your Father had just been imprisoned. He doesn't know that we decided to tell you."

Clarke stood up and stepped away from him.

"You're Father was never mad at your Mom, Clarke. He loved her until the end. Follow his example." 

Clarke didn't listen to him. She stormed out of his office and it was all she could do not to run home. Raven and Octavia found her sobbing on the couch when they got home. They let her explain what had happened without interrupting her. When she finished they showered her with empathy that she didn't want.

"We have to go to that party. He'll be there, I know he will." Clarke jumped up and ran to her room to change. 

Raven and Octavia did the same and they were some of the first people to show up.

The moment Wells entered Clarke pounced on him and wouldn't let go. She hugged him and cried and apologized. He hugged her back and apologized too. He was too happy to cry though. They were inseparable for the rest of the night. She introduce him to Raven, Octavia, Jasper, and Monty. Even Bellamy got an introduction when he showed up.

"I take it that meeting with the Dean went well?" He asked her when Wells was distracted by Jasper and Monty.

"Not so much." Clarke took a swig of beer and handed him her cup to get her a refill.

"You got your friend back." He said, confused.

"I told you, everything involving this is part of a long and personal story that I only tell to people I trust."

"I'm hurt, Princess." He pretended to be offended. "You don't trust me?"

"Not even a little." She grinned up at him.

"Hey, didn't Raven break up with Murphy?" Monty pointed to the door where Murphy was practically dragging Raven outside. 

Bellamy cursed under his breath and started pushing his way through the crowd followed closely by everyone else. They paused when they got outside to figure out where they had gone. Wells pointed across the lawn where Murphy was shoving Raven into the back of a car.

"Why isn't she fighting back?" Clarke asked as they ran towards the car.

"He drugged her." Bellamy growled.

With that pronouncement they all ran faster. Murphy didn't even have a chance to open his own door before Bellamy used his entire body weight to ram him against the door. He pulled back and punched him in the face. Clarke and Octavia pulled a limp and half-asleep Raven from the car.

"I can't believe you were being serious!" Bellamy yelled at Murphy. "What is wrong with you?"

"That bitch broke up with me, man." Murphy wiped blood from his lip.

"For good reason!" Bellamy hit him again.

He would have kept beating him if Wells hadn't put his hand on his arm. "That's enough. Let me take care of it."

They all knew what he meant. His Father wouldn't stand for such actions in one of his students. One word from Wells and the other witnesses and Murphy would be kicked off of campus and expelled from school. 

Monty and Jasper carried Raven back home. Clarke and Octavia squeezed onto her bed with her because she would probably freak out when the drug wore off.

"I'm not a huge fan of these college parties so far." Clarke whispered to Octavia even though she knew she was already asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Clarke spent the rest of her weekend avoiding calls from her mom. Jaha would have told her that she knew and Clarke really wasn't in the mood to hear the apologies. She wouldn't be able to accept them. 

Wells had his best friend back and he was taking advantage of it. They spent as much time together as they could, catching up. 

On Monday she went to class totally prepared to ignore a million questions from Bellamy and Finn. 

Finn didn't outright ask her anything, but he kept looking at her like he expected her to tell him everything. Bellamy gave a nod in greeting, but he didn't even look at her after that. 

"First quiz this Friday." Kane said as their class came to an end. "This quiz tends to determine how you do the rest of the year so study up. Class dismissed."

"So?" Finn finally asked. "What was your meeting with Jaha about?"

"Family stuff." Clarke shrugged.

"Wells told me you guys are talking again, but he never told me what the fight was about in the first place." 

"I don't feel like talking about it, Finn." Clarke walked away from him, not even stopping when Bellamy said her name. 

Three hours later she was on the floor of her bedroom with a highlighter and her notes.

"Hey Clarke. Big test?" Octavia threw herself onto Clarke's bed. She picked up a stress ball from Clarke's nightstand and threw it against the wall so it bounced back to her.

"First quiz on Friday." 

"Friday!" Octavia sat up and threw the ball at her. "Clarke, it's Monday!"

"So?"

"Why are you studying already?" 

"Because I want to do really well on this test."

"Nope. Come on." Octavia pulled her to her feet. "We're going shopping." 

"Shopping?"

"Yep. I need a new dress and you could really do with a new pair of shoes." Octavia grabbed both of their purses and pushed Clarke out the door. "Come on Clarke. There is nothing wrong with a little retail therapy. You deserve a distraction."

Clarke wanted to say no. She knew she probably should, but Octavia had a point. A distraction sounded really nice. They spent the rest of their day at the mall. On Tuesday she spent the day with Wells and his dad. Raven's birthday was on Wednesday, so they took her out. When Thursday rolled around her psych notebook was still sitting untouched on her floor. 

She came back from her morning anatomy class and made herself a sandwich. Once bite in she remembered her quiz and forgot her sandwich. She ran toward her room but a knock at the door made her double back.

"Hey is Octavia home?" Bellamy asked when she opened the door.

"No." She closed the door in his face but opened it a second later after she realized something. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him to her room.

"Whoah there, Princess." He smirked down at her. "I'm not complaining or anything but I could use a little warning next time you decide to seduce me."

"Definitely not seducing you." She shoved him onto the bed and picked up her notebook. "Unless you're turned on by helping me study psychology." 

"I wouldn't be the first person with a tutoring fantasy, but I can't." He stood up. "It wouldn't be fair."

"Are there rules against a TA helping students study?"

"Not per say, but I don't want to play favorites."

"Bellamy, no!" Clarke threw herself at him dramatically. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hung from him like a child throwing a tantrum. "I need you!"

Bellamy sighed.

"Besides, everyone already knows I'm your favorite." She smiled up at him.

"It's just the social stuff, Clarke. It doesn't get any easier than that."

"I'm not great at the social stuff. I can already name the parts of the brain and their functions, but what on earth is group think?" She pointed at the first thing highlighted in her notebook. "And for whatever reason I can never remember the differences between prejudice, discrimination, and stereotypes!"

Bellamy huffed but sat back on her bed and took the notebook from her. 

"Just this once, Princess."

"Deal."

She smiled and sat next to him, maybe a little closer than necessary.


	7. Chapter 7

The sound of her alarm blaring pulled Clarke out of an unrestful sleep. She sat up and rubbed the back of her neck, wincing at the soreness of a new crook. It didn't surprise her that Bellamy was gone but she was little perturbed that he let her stay on the floor where she fell asleep well into their study session. She picked up her notebook and groaned when she saw how much had been highlighted. Pink for everything she thought was important, green for everything Bellamy thought was important. Almost nothing in the notebook was covered by both colors.

She stretched when she stood up and grabbed her robe from the hook on her door. They had come up with a pretty efficient showering schedule early on in their time as roommates. It only stopped working when Raven or Octavia slept through their alarm, something Clarke never did. Even when she had been up till two studying. She looked in the mirror and laughed at her appearance.

Her hair was flat against her head on one side and a terrifying mess of frizz on the other. Her mascara had come off around her eyes when she rubbed them, making her look like a raccoon on crack. And, of course, there was a streak of dried drool across her cheek. She silently prayed that Bellamy had left before any of these horrors had occurred.

Octavia had a waffle ready for her when she got out of the shower. It didn't look good and she didn't feel like eating, but she did anyway.

"Brain food." Octavia announced and handed her the plate.

"Um, O, I don't think you know what brain food is." Raven chortled as she drenched her own waffle in syrup.

"Oh no! You like blueberries in yours don't you Raven?" Octavia found a bag of frozen fruit in the freezer and fished out a blueberry. She tossed it at Raven and laughed when it bounced off her nose and fell onto her waffle, splattering syrup onto the ratty old t-shirt that she had slept in.

Clarke laughed too, thankful for the distraction from her stress. Breakfast went by too quickly and she got ready too fast. There was still half an hour before she had to leave.

Raven and Octavia wished her luck on her quiz when they left and even Wells, who was anything but a morning person, texted her right before she got to class.

Bellamy sat at his desk, his only sign of fatigue was that he was leaning his head on his hand instead of sitting up straight like he usually did.

Clarke found her seat and tried to keep herself from bouncing her leg. She wanted to get the quiz over with before she forgot everything she was working so hard to remember. She was relatively certain that if she waited too long all of the information would leak out of her ear and be lost to her forever.

She looked up and saw Bellamy chuckle at her as if he could read her mind. Ignoring him, she decided to use what little time she had left to go over her notes one last time. She turned to the last page and a writing that wasn't her own caught her eye. A little note was scrawled in the corner in a boxy writing that she had never seen before.

**'You'll do fine. Don't stress. Good luck.'**

Clarke looked up at Bellamy again but he wasn't paying attention to her anymore. One of the other students, a tall red head with all the right curves, was leaning on his desk. He smiled at something she said.

"He's not very professional is he?" Finn asked as he sat down next to Clarke. Clarke pretended the only reason she noticed Bellamy flirting with the girl was because Finn pointed it out.

"I don't think they ban student/TA relationships here." Clarke shrugged. "

"Maybe they should." Finn smiled at her. "Could be unfair."

"Bellamy's a good person." She rolled her eyes at his smirk.

"I don't trust him."

"I do."

"Seriously?"

Professor Kane interrupted their conversation by calling for them to clear off their desks.

"Just pencils, people." He handed the quizzes to Bellamy.

"Good luck, Princess." Bellamy said when he gave Clarke her quiz. It embarrassed her. If they didn't hear what he said, every student was at least aware that he had said something. Finn raised his eyebrows at her and Clarke felt herself blushing, even though she didn't know why she should be embarrassed. There was nothing wrong about being friends with the Teacher's Assistant.

Clarke sped through her quiz, another side effect of her leaky brain superstition. Professor Kane collected her quiz and dismissed her. As she left she saw him hand it to Bellamy and anxiety flared in her chest. He would be the first to know if she did poorly.

She hadn't even made it out of the building when she ran into Monty. He pulled her into a quick hug and kept his arm around her shoulders as they walked into the sunlight.

"What's a Computer Science major doing in the psych building?" She asked.

"Looking for you. I was going to wait outside your class until you were done. I've hardly seen you since the semester started and that's pretty much a crime. Especially given everything that's been going on with you." He led her to a small shed-like building that served as a concession stand for the students and bought her a frozen chocolate covered banana.

Clarke knew Monty and Jasper would be filled in about her situation with Wells whether she told them or not, but it made her feel a little guilty that she hadn't taken the trouble to tell them herself. She had known them even longer than she had known Octavia. The three of them had gone through elementary school together, but they didn't even meet Octavia until their middle schools joined for high school.

Jasper and Monty used to get her into all sorts of trouble, but there were no better friends. She grew especially close to them after Wells's betrayal in eighth grade, though they didn't know exactly why. That was the best part of their friendship. They always knew if something was wrong, but they never pried, just did their best to make it all better. Clarke knew that's what the banana was for. It was Monty's way of saying 'you can tell me if you want to but in the meantime know that I'm here no matter what and I know how much you love bananas'.

There was no doubt that Jasper would be joining them when he could and he would bring Orange Crush because somehow in fifth grade he had convinced them that it was magic and could cure any sadness. Somewhere along the way it had actually started working, but mostly because Orange Crush meant Jasper was thinking of them and that made them feel better.

"How're classes going?" Clarke asked him.

"Pretty good. I have one professor who I would very much like to punch in the mouth, but the rest are okay and nothing's too hard yet." He licked the ice cream cone he'd gotten himself. "How about you?"

"Calculus, Anatomy and Physiology, and Biology are fine. Spanish is okay. Psychology is sort of kicking my butt." She pinched her face up to show him just how much she disliked it.

"What's it like living with O and Raven?" He smirked as if he knew the answer already.

"Interesting." She laughed. "It's weird living with your best friends. I thought we couldn't get to know each other better than we already did, but that was far from true. I've already helped plan interventions for both of them with the help of the other, which makes me wonder if there are any planned for me yet."

"Interventions?"

"One to get Octavia to stop spending so much time with one specific boy and one to get Raven to pick just one to spend time with."

Monty held up a hand. "That's all I need to know about their love lives, thank you."

Clarke laughed again. "What's it like living with Jasper?"

He shrugged. "We spent most of our time together anyway. Not much different from high school."

"We're brothers from different mothers, Clarke." Jasper, who had walked up just in time to hear his name in their conversation, pulled another chair up to their table and straddled it. "Dear brother, can I borrow a fiver? I forgot my wallet at the apartment."

Monty sighed but took out his wallet and handed five ones to his friend. Jasper whooped and went to the food shack.

"Although he does borrow more money from me than he used to." Monty said loud enough for Jasper to hear from where he was standing in line only twenty feet away.

"How's life as a future chemist?" Clarke asked him when he came back with an ice cream sandwich and a plate of nachos. "Have you learned enough for us to start our crystal meth company yet?"

"We will be breaking bad very soon, Clarke, my friend. Just give me a little more time. Besides, Monty hasn't even found a suitable camper yet."

"It's the most important part of the entire operation." Monty argued. "It has to be perfect."

"You two really need to start pulling your weight or we're never going to get anywhere with this endeavor." Clarke shook her head.

"And what exactly have you been contributing?" They both turned on her.

"I'm the muscle! I can't do anything until we're up and running."

It felt good to be just joking with someone. There was no fear of angering them and having to live with them after (plus they were both extremely slow to anger). There was no lingering awkwardness of years of estrangement. And, though she loved them both dearly, there was no threat of attraction.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Jasper pulled out three lukewarm cans of Orange Crush from his backpack and passed them out.They popped them open one after the other and held them up for a toast like they always did. "To being awesome."

"And super attractive." Monty added.

"And evil geniuses." Clarke giggled.

Jasper downed half of his can in one gulp. "It burns going down." He rasped.

Monty burped loudly and they all laughed until they were crying.

"Hey, we're having some people over tonight." Monty said after they had spent nearly three hours together and decided it was time to part ways. "You gotta be there."

"People?" Clarke asked, not bother to hide her trepidation.

"A very small group, seeing as how we have a very small apartment." Jasper threw his arm around her shoulders and they started walking in the direction of her apartment. "There will be beer."

"Of that I have no doubt." She laughed.

"Octavia and Raven have been texted, as have Wells and Bellamy." Monty put his phone back into his pocket.

"Bellamy?" Clarke was surprised. "I didn't know you guys were friends with him."

"Remember how freshmen year in high school there was that guy who always took our lunch money?"

"Dax." Clarke said remembering his name.

"Yeah, well the next year he left us alone, just because we helped Miller with some homework." Jasper said.

"And Miller, while smaller and not quite as scary-looking was one step higher on the bully ladder than Dax so we got protection just by association." Monty added.

"Are you guys being bullied?" Clarke got just as angry and protective as she had four years ago when she found out. Though they hadn't let her do anything about it because it would have been even more embarrassing to have a girl stand up for them.

"What?" Jasper laughed. "No. Miller is friends with Bellamy."

Clarke laughed, her friends were odd and she had gotten used to the way they explained things a long time ago. "What time?"

"Any time after five." Monty said. "I should probably shove some things into my closet."

They parted ways and Clarke looked at her phone to see the time. It was almost one and she had missed three calls from her mom. There was one voicemail.

_Hi honey. I know you're mad at me, but if you would just answer my calls, or call me back. Let me expl-_

Clarke stopped listening. She already knew what he mother was going to say and she didn't want it to ruin her good mood. 

Raven nearly tackled her in an excited hug when she entered their apartment.

"Monty and Jasper are having a party and Miller is gonna be there!" She squealed.

"Oh." Clarke dragged out the word as she realized that Raven's Miller was the same one who was friends with Bellamy and saved Jasper and Monty from bullies in high school. She liked Miller and didn't want Raven to use him for temporary kicks, but it didn't seem like the right time to say anything.

Octavia sent them a text saying she wouldn't make it back before they were supposed to be at Monty and Jasper's but she would see them there. Clarke sighed when she saw it but didn't say anything. 

"I would trust that guy more if he said more than two words to someone other than Octavia." Raven said. "It's sort of creepy. Like he's got her under some spell or something."

"It'll be interesting if he's there." Clarke said. "Bellamy was invited and if they're both there it will be pretty tense."

"Oooh, more eye candy!" Raven clapped. "Don't worry though, I already told you I'd keep my hands to myself on that one. He's O's brother, and he's clearly got the hots for you. As much as I want to suck face with him I will refrain because that would be one unfun mess."

"Raven! He does not have the hots for me!" Clarke threw a pillow at her.

"Well then you have the hots for him." She threw it back.

"I do not."

"One of you likes the other. It's painfully obvious and sort of pathetic to watch." Raven left her alone to touch up her makeup.

They got up at five minutes to five. Raven knocked on the door.

"Go away!" Monty called through the door. "We said  _after_ five, not before."

"I will kick the door down." Raven threatened with a laugh. 

Monty opened the door and ushered them in dramatically. 

"Welcome to our humble abode." Jasper stood in the living room in a burgundy housecoat with a fake pipe in his hand.

"Not bad guys." Raven said as she looked around.

"Although you missed something." Clarke pointed to the pair of boxers draped over a chair.

"Jasper! I told you like eight times to put those away!" Monty picked up the boxers and threw them at Jasper.

"They weren't dry yet!" Jasper took them from where they had landed on his head and went to his room to put them away.

"I'm already regretting the decision to come." Bellamy and Miller were standing in the open doorway. 

"I made dip!" Monty ignored Bellamy's comment and ran to his mini fridge.

"Hey, you're Raven right?" Miller pointed at Raven.

"Yeah, and you're Miller." She smiled sweetly.

"That's me." He smiled back. They drifted into the living area and found a spot on the couch.

"She works fast." Clarke muttered under her breath.

"What?" Bellamy asked.

"Oh nothing."

"Were you just talking to yourself?" He smirked.

"Yes, it's better than talking to you." 

"Just for that I'm not telling you what you got on your quiz." He brushed past her to where Jasper was offering everyone beers. 

Octavia arrived with Lincoln, followed a few minutes later by Wells. Clarke noticed that Bellamy decidedly ignored his sister and her boyfriend, using his new acquaintance with Wells as an excuse. The two seemed to hit it off, which made Clarke happy for some reason. She was also pleased that Bellamy was just ignoring Lincoln and not fighting with him. Clarke avoided drinking, just in case it somehow came to blows again.

It was a night filled with laughter and pizza rolls.

At one point Bellamy went into Jasper's room to take a call but no one seemed to noticed, they were too enthralled by a story Miller was telling them. 

"We're out of beer!" Raven exclaimed when his story was done.

"We're never out of beer!" Monty laughed.

"There's another case in my room." Jasper pointed to his door.

"I'll get it." Clarke stood up from her spot on the floor and went into the room. 

Bellamy was just finishing his call when Clarke walked in.

"Oh, sorry." She started to turn around but he stopped.

"No, it's fine I'm done." He pocketed his phone but right as he was ready to leave the door slammed shut.

"SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN!!!" Jasper bellowed like a general spurring his troops into battle.

It was followed by a collective cheer.

"Oh come on guys." Clarke tried the handle. "They must have a chair wedging it shut."

She turned around to see Bellamy grinning at her. 

"What?" She asked, suddenly uncomfortable. 

"You have chip dip on your chin." 

She wiped the dip off and licked it off her hand.

"Gross. There's no way I'm making out with you now." He chuckled.

"Stop chatting start snogging!" Octavia yelled.

"Guys, we're not going to make out so just open the door." Clarke called back.

"It hasn't even been a minute! More than six to go, take advantage of them." Raven said.

Clarke groaned and turned back to Bellamy only to find an empty room.

"Bellamy?" She whispered, though she wasn't sure why.

"Come on." He waved his hand up so she could see that he had jumped out the window onto the ground below. It was maybe a seven foot drop and Clarke wasn't over-confident in her ability to land it without breaking an ankle.

"I don't think I can." She said after she puller herself up to sit on the windowsill. 

"It's not that far."He reached his hands up and grabbed her ankles. "I'll catch you."

Clarke thought about what she had told Finn earlier about trusting Bellamy. It seemed like the perfect time to see if that was true or if she had just said it to rile up Finn. She took a deep breath and pushed away from the window.

True to his word, Bellamy's hands found her waist and his strong arms slowed her descent until she landed lightly on her toes. When she was deposited safely on the ground he stepped back and grinned at her. 

"What do you say Princess? Want some revenge?"

Clarke grinned and followed him when he ran away from the apartment building and into the parking lot. 

She sent a text to Monty.

_Decided we needed wine coolers. Be back soon._

A quick trip to Walmart and they were ready to get back at anyone who would dare to lock them in a room and try to force them to make out. Clarke pressed herself up against the wall beside the door and Bellamy put his hand on the knob, gun at the ready.

"On my mark." He whispered. "One, two, three!"

He threw open the door and they stormed in, drenching everyone in sight with their super soakers. They both had a big gun in their hands and one tied to their belts for when the first ones were empty. Their friends screamed as they emptied all four guns and sprinted away as soon as they were done.

Wells and Jasper ran after them but they were pumped up on the adrenaline of revenge and they outran them, reaching Bellamy's car and driving away before they caught up with them. 

Clarke laughed until she couldn't breathe and he stomach hurt. 

"Think it's safe for you to go home?" Bellamy asked after they drove around enough to calm down.

"Yeah, Raven is the sort of person who thinks revenge is best served cold. They won't try to get me back tonight."

Bellamy drove her home and walked her to her door. She stood on her tip toes and kissed him on the cheek.

"What was that for?" He smirked.

"Not trying to make out with me."

"What makes you think I want to?"

Clarke flipped her hair and batted her eyes at him dramatically. "I'm irresistible." She said in a southern bell accent.

"Yeah well you got a very low A on your quiz so I wouldn't say irresistible." He winked and turned away from her. "There's always room for improvement."

"An A?" She squealed as he walked back to his car.

"Goodnight Princess." He waved without turning around.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I've been posting these at such random intervals. I just put them up when they're finished and while I know stories don't write themselves, weddings don't plan themselves and that's sort of been my priority at the moment! I'll try to do more this week, but no promises.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am very sorry for the amount of times vomit/throwing up is mentioned in this chapter.

Clarke woke up to the smiling face of Jackson, one of the other doctors at her mom's hospital. She didn't know him very well, but she knew he was one of her mom's closest friends and she had been forced to go to enough Christmas parties and fancy dinners to recognize him.

"Hey there, Clarke." He smiled wider and wrote something down on his clipboard. "How are you feeling?"

Clarke briefly took assessment of her entire body. She was exhausted, her arms and legs felt too weak to even lift. Her throat was raw and her head was pounding, but the worst part was the gnawing, rolling feeling in her stomach. At the last second she remembered the special bucket next to her bed. She rolled over and let her upper half hang off the bed as she vomited into the bucket.

"Still pretty bad, huh?" Jackson scribbled onto his clipboard. "Your mom wants to know if you'll yell at her if she comes in again."

"Yes, I will." Clarke answered weakly. "What day is it?"

"Tuesday." Jackson made another note.

She had been sleeping enough that it was messing with her sense of time. She had slept most of Saturday away, exhaustion being the first symptom of whatever is was she had caught. On Sunday she got up long enough to be sick at least eight times. Raven and Octavia took her to the hospital Sunday evening and she had been there ever since. Jackson insisted their tests hadn't found anything seriously wrong with her. It was just a virus, it would pass. 

"Twelve more people have come in with the same symptoms as you." Jackson informed her. "Anybody else and you'll have to share a room."

"Great." Clarke readjusted herself on the bed. She couldn't get comfortable, mostly because it was soaked through with sweat. 

"Just rest, Clarke. You'll be better soon." He pat her foot reassuringly and left the room. 

"I'm tired of resting." Clarke muttered, but she was already half asleep.

 

The next time she woke up it was because someone was being loud.

"I don't need to stay! Just give me something so I can go home." 

The new patient was ushered (well, pushed) into her room. Jackson gave her a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry, sir. It doesn't work like that." A pair of orderlies showed him to his bed.

"Shut up, Bellamy." Clarke scowled. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

"Oh, that figures." He scoffed. "At least now I know how I caught it."

"What?" Clarke sat up and it was a mistake.

"You kissed me!"

Jackson looked between them, his eyebrows dangerously close to his hairline. 

"It was a peck on the cheek." Clarke managed to defend herself before she was hanging over her bucket, dry-heaving.

Bellamy had his own special bucket and seeing Clarke struggle over hers was enough to send him into a fit of his own. 

Jackson seemed thankful for the relative silence. "Sorry, Clarke, but your mom asked me to ask again." 

"No!" Clarke's voiced echoed in the bucket.

"Okay." Jackson and the orderlies left.

"What's that about?" Bellamy asked when they both collapsed back onto their beds. 

"None of your business."

"Well, we're both stuck here, apparently. Just trying to make some conversation."

Clarke rolled her head over to look at Bellamy. He was pale and gaunt. His hair hung limply over his eyes, weighed down by sweat. Clarke wondered what she looked like, but she was too tired to care. It was just Bellamy, after all.

"I recently found something out that sort of upset me." 

"Clarke, you won't let your mom come visit you even though you're sick in the hospital. I'd say you're more than upset." Bellamy chuckled.

"Fine, I'm mad at her."

"Does it have anything to do with your visit to Dean Jaha?"

"How'd you know?" She frowned at him.

"You seem to be getting along with his son again, and now you're mad at your mom." He shrugged. "I just assumed. It all happened at the same time."

It may have been the way he seemed not to care, or maybe it was because she was bored out of her mind, but she told him everything. Even the parts that Raven and Octavia didn't know. 

"Your dad went to prison because he kept secrets?" He asked about the one part Clarke hated explaining the most. She had been purposefully vague, but he was asking and she felt like it was pointless to keep it a secret.

"He was an engineer for a company that made weapons for the military. He was the head engineer for this project with missiles, only he found out that the missiles wouldn't work because a very important part had malfunctioned. I guess he was tired of being indirectly responsible for so many deaths because he didn't tell anyone. Except my mom." She explained.

"So why did you think it was Wells who turned him in?"

Clarke picked at the blanket over her lap to avoid looking at him. "I overheard my parents fighting about it and I told Wells what I heard. He promised not to tell anyone, but he had always been sort of a tattle tale." 

Bellamy was silent but she could feel him looking at her so she turned onto her side, putting her back to him. 

"I realize now that I was stupid." She confessed.

"You were mad at Wells for years and now you regret that all of those years passed without being friends with him. What if you realize, in five years, that you wasted the last five years being mad at your mom for something that wasn't really her fault." 

"Bellamy, I didn't tell you all that because I wanted your opinion."

"Then why did you tell me?"

"I thought a bedtime story would put you to sleep."

Bellamy chuckled. He didn't say anything else and ten minutes later Clarke turned around to find him asleep. She wasn't as tired as she had been and she let it lift her spirits and took it as a sign that she was recovering. Jackson brought her some crackers and she was actually able to eat them without vomiting. When he woke up Bellamy got through two crackers before he lost them to his bucket. 

"You know, your sister really likes that Lincoln guy. And he seems pretty nice." Clarke said as he stared forlornly at the pile of crackers he wasn't able to eat.

"Are you trying to tell me I should give them my blessing or something?"

"No, maybe just don't sneer every time you see him and try not to get into any more fights with him."

"He threw the first punch." 

Clarke couldn't tell if she believed him or not. He had walked away from that fight without a scratch.

"I know she's your baby sister, but she's also grown up. She can take care of herself."

"I can't help but be protective. Our Mom-." He stopped himself and looked away from her.

"Oh come on. I just told you all of my Mom drama."

"Mine's different."His voice had grown soft and hoarse. "Worse."

"Worse than getting my Dad thrown in jail where he was killed?"

He looked at her and sighed. Clarke could tell from the look in his eyes that, to him at least, his was worse. Octavia had never mentioned any problems with her mom. Now that Clarke thought about it she couldn't remember her ever mentioning her mom at all. She knew she had never met her, but up until now that hadn't seemed particularly odd. Bellamy had always been the one to pick Octavia up from things or drop her off. When they would ask Octavia to do things she would never say 'let me ask my Mom'. It was always 'let me ask Bellamy'. Clarke was startled to realize that Bellamy had raised his little sister and she had never even noticed it. 

"If you don't stop being so hostile towards him you might be the one looking back in five years and regretting spending all that time mad at someone you love." Clarke's voice was almost a whisper, but he heard her.

"Fine, Princess. I'll be nicer to the Grounder if you talk to your Mom." His smugness had returned.

"Deal." Clarke smiled. "You can let Octavia know right now." She pointed to the door where his sister was speed walking towards them.

She looked on the verge of tears when she entered their room.

"Bellamy! I had to find out from Miller that you were in the hospital!" He hands were balled into fist at her side. Clarke had no doubt that she would have been hitting him if he wasn't lying there in a hospital bed looking awful.

"I didn't exactly plan on staying here this long." He shrugged.

"Well at least you two are in the same room so I don't have to run back and forth worrying about both of you." She slid into a chair between their beds. 

"Fair warning: there has been a fair amount of throwing up going on in here." Bellamy said.

"Gross." Octavia willed herself to ignore the buckets.

"I actually ate five crackers an hour and a half ago and they're still in my stomach." Clarke said proudly.

"Look at you!" Bellamy gave her a thumbs up. "At this rate you'll be able to keep down that dirty water they call soup at dinner time."

At the mention of the 'soup' they both groaned and clutched their stomachs. Octavia darted across the room just as they both found their buckets. 

"Then again, maybe not." Bellamy groaned.

Octavia stayed for as long as she was allowed. Bellamy fell asleep to the sound of Clarke humming lightly and when he woke up the next morning she was gone. Jackson informed him that she had been allowed to leave. Wells had picked her up and taken her home. He didn't have to be alone for long; Octavia came back to see him as soon as visiting hours started. 

His deal with Clarke nagged at his mind until her apologized to Octavia for his behavior towards Lincoln. 

When Octavia got home she went straight to Clarke's room.

"I know you made him do it." She sat at the foot of Clarke's bed where she was resting. 

She was able to sit up now and had spent most of her day reading. 

"I didn't get him sick!" Clarke said, misunderstanding Octavia's accusation.

"No. I meant I know you made him apologize."

"I didn't make him do anything." Clarke put her book down on her bedside table. "I just convinced him it was the right thing to do."

"Thank you, for whatever you did." Octavia sat up and went to the door. They could hear Raven groan from the bathroom. "I'm going to take Raven to the hospital."

"Good idea." 


	9. Chapter 9

Finn looked more than relieved to see Clarke when he walked into class on Friday.

"I heard you were in the hospital!" He put his hand on her arm as if she needed comfort.

"Yeah." She moved her arm away from his hand. "I'm okay." 

"What happened?"

"I just had some virus." 

"Just some virus?" Bellamy walked up to join their conversation. "That was the worst thing that I've ever experienced."

He still looked pale and weak. Clarke was fully recovered, but clearly Bellamy's symptoms were still clinging. 

"You had it too?" Finn sneered up at him and leaned away.

"Thanks to Princess here, yeah I did." He sat on the table in front of them.

"Don't worry, I learned my lesson." Clarke smiled up at him. "Kissing Bellamy Blake makes me sick."

"What?" Finn's eyes grew wide. "Kissing?"

"Don't worry." He said to Finn without looking away from Clarke. "I won't be letting her near me for some time."

With that he pushed himself away from their table and back to his desk. The red head was there waiting for him to return.

Clarke couldn't help smiling. Bellamy sank into his seat, looking tired. Kane must have been able to tell because he didn't ask Bellamy to pass out any papers or collect anything throughout class. He was allowed to stare down at the papers in front of him, swaying slightly. 

When class ended Bellamy didn't move and Clarke wondered if he was asleep. She decided to check on him when she was finished talking to the professor.

"Professor Kane? I was wondering if I missed anything important on Monday that wasn't in the syllabus." Clarke said meekly. Professor Kane was an imposing man. He was kind enough, but there was something in the way he spoke that let you know you were beneath him intellectually. 

"Ah yes, I got your e-mail. Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, thank you. Much better."

"Good." He smiled genuinely. "I highly recommend going over the notes with another student."

"Okay, I'll do that."

"Good." He smiled again and left for his office.

Clarke groaned and spun around to see Bellamy leaning his face on his hand. It screwed up half of his face, distorting his grin comically. 

"You gonna spend some quality time with your favorite classmate?" He teased.

"Shut up. This sucks." She pouted. "I don't supposed you would help me."

"Absolutely not." His smile widened. "Not just because you got me incredibly sick, but also because I talked to my sister and you haven't held up your end of the bargain yet." He paused. "And also because I think it's funny how uncomfortable he makes you. What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall during that study session."

"I wouldn't mind that. I have a new fly swatter that I haven't had the chance to break in yet." Clarke marched out of the room, but she heard him chuckle behind her. 

She walked quickly, hoping to catch up with Finn. Some of the other students she passed seemed vaguely familiar but she didn't pay much attention to any of the other people in that class so she wasn't sure if they were people she could ask for help. And even if they were she would have to work up quit a bit of courage before she asked a stranger.

She found Finn sitting on a bench chatting with Monty. For a second she thought it was strange, but then she remembered that they had all been friends in high school. Monty waved when he saw her. 

"You're alive!" He jumped up to hug here and twirled her around in a circle. "And you aren't puking your guts out!"

Clarke made a fake vomiting noise. Monty dropped her and jumped back with a look of horror on his face. Clarke couldn't contain her laughter. Soon she was wiping tears away from the corners of her eyes. Finn was laughing just as hard and even Monty joined in after a moment of embarrassment. 

"Hey Finn, could I borrow your notes from Monday?" Clarke asked, suddenly remembering why she was looking for him in the first place.

"Yeah. I'll come over later and we can go over them." He got up and started leaving before she could protest. "See you later, Monty."

"Well this is going to go horribly. Raven is going to kill me." Clarke slumped onto the bench.

"She won't  _kill_ you, just tear off your limbs." Monty laughed.

"Thanks for nothing." She smiled despite herself. "I'd better go. The longer I give her to prepare the better."

Raven was tinkering with some electrical parts when Clarke got home. 

"Can you hand me the screwdriver with the red handle?" Raven asked as soon as Clarke walked in. She pointed to the kitchen counter. 

Clarke didn't tell her that she could tell the difference between a clutchhead and a cross-slot. Raven had the tendency to think she was the only one who knew anything about anything. 

"Listen, Raven." Clarke handed her the screwdriver and sat across the table from her.

"Uh-oh, I don't like that tone." Raven said without looking up.

"Finn is coming over later." 

Raven lost her grip on the handle of the screwdriver and it slipped, sending the screw flying across the table into Clarke's lap.

"Shit." Raven muttered. 

"It's just to help me with what I missed on Monday. He comes, I copy his notes as fast as humanly possibly, and he leaves." Clarke explained quickly. "I won't even offer him anything to drink."

"No." Raven said calmly. "No, it's fine. I kind of wanted to talk to him anyway."

"About what?" Clarke asked cautiously. 

"I sort of miss him." Raven shrugged. "Just because we aren't together anymore doesn't mean we can't be friends. So he made a mistake. I can forgive people."

Clarke felt a knot form in her stomach. It seemed like everyone was a better person than her. All of her friends were capable of forgiving the person that had wronged them in whatever way. She smiled at her friend, but inside she was grieving for whatever made people forgiving that must have died inside her along with her Dad.

Finn texted her to say he would be there in an hour.

"Should I order pizza?" Raven asked when Clarke read her the text.

"You seriously feel like eating pizza right now? You just got back from the hospital yesterday." Clarke asked.

"Dr. Jackson said I was resisting the virus better than you did. I feel fine." Raven grinned. She was proud of how strong she was.

"Order your pizza." Clarke laughed. "I swear if it's Bellamy who delivers it I'm never ordering pizza ever again."

An hour later Finn knocked at their door and Raven pulled him into her room so they could talk privately. They had been in there fifteen minutes when the door opened and Bellamy came in with a pizza.

"Really?" Clarke threw her hands up. "Doesn't anyone else work there? And haven't you ever heard of knocking?"

"I was picking up my check when I saw where this was headed. I offered to bring it to you." He set the box down on the counter and took a slice.

"Please. Make yourself at home." Clarke said flatly.

"Where is everybody?" He asked as he sat on the couch.

"O's with Lincoln and Raven is in her bedroom reconciling with Finn." Clarke found a plate and got her own piece.

"Reconciling?" He asked somberly. "Or reconciling?" He wagged his eyebrows at her.

Clarke laughed and sat next to him just as the door opened and they emerged smiling.

"Well they were in there for twenty minutes so your guess is as good as mine." Clarke said low enough for only him to hear.

"I had him pegged as the I-only-need-five-minutes-you-can-take-care-of-yourself type." Bellamy whispered back.

Clarke choked on her pizza when his comment made her laugh. Raven and Finn seemed to notice them there for the first time. Raven seemed pleased to see Bellamy but Finn was frowning all of the sudden.

"You ready to work on those notes yet, Clarke?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, sure!" Clarke said with more enthusiasm than she felt.

He sat down at the table pulled his notebook out. Clarke shot a questioning look at Raven who gave her a thumbs up in return. 

Raven took Clarke's spot on the couch next to Bellamy and they fell into an easy conversation. Clarke eased into the chair next to Finn and set her pizza aside, it suddenly wasn't so appetizing.

He led her through the notes, briefly explaining each concept but never saying any more than was written in his notes. Clarke relaxed as she settled into the easy academic conversation. Raven and Bellamy turned on the t.v., keeping the volume low so it didn't disturb Finn and Clarke. Half an hour passed and Clarke no longer felt any tension at all. She leaned a little closer to Finn so she didn't have to crane her neck so much to read from his paper and he took it as an invitation to kiss her. 

She squeaked when his lips found hers but it took a moment for it to truly register what was happening. She pulled away and touched her lips with her fingertips. Her heart sank when she saw Raven and Bellamy looking at her with expressions that said they didn't truly believe what they just saw. Anger flashed in Raven's eyes, she turned around and pulled Bellamy down into a kiss. 

It lasted even shorter than Finn and Clarke's before Raven pushed him away. 

"Sorry! I don't know why I did that!" Raven, who never blushed, covered her cheeks to hide how red they were getting. "I'm not upset, I promise! It was just some weird reflex!"

She stood up. "You guys can kiss if you want to. It's totally fine that you're in a relationship."

She sat back down as if unsure of where she should be.

Bellamy shot up as soon as Raven sat back down. "I should go."

"I'm so sorry, Bellamy." Raven laughed a little, trying to dispel the awkwardness.

"No, it's fine." He laughed a little too. "I just have some things to do."

He didn't look at Clarke or Finn as he left. 

"I'm sorry Clarke. I wasn't thinking." Finn took her hand. "I just really like you"

"Maybe you should leave too." Clarke pulled her hand back. "Thanks for your help."

She went into the kitchen and started tidying up. Finn gathered his things and said goodbye.

"Clarke." Raven said when he was gone. "I really don't care if you guys are together."

"Yeah, I know. I just don't want to be with him anymore." Clarke shrugged.

She was fully aware that her anger towards him had been fueled by the fact that he had a girlfriend and she liked him. Even when Finn and Raven broke up Clarke was angry, not just because he hurt Raven, but also because he was still off limits to her. When he kissed her she realized that she was no longer interested in him. 

She grinned to herself and pulled out her phone to call Wells. He would be so proud of her for getting over something so quickly.


	10. Chapter 10

"It's so great to get the whole gang back together." Jasper sipped his juice box until it crinkled in on itself.

They were all lounging in the grass at the local park and it was the first time Finn was with them since he and Raven broke up. 

"It's also super cool that you're okay with your girlfriends ex-boyfriend hanging with us." Jasper added and nudged Miller.

"Yeah, thanks man." Miller laughed. "I am secure with myself which means I am secure in my relationship."

He threw his arm around Raven's shoulders and pulled her in to kiss her temple.

"That didn't sound rehearsed at all." Wells laughed and soon enough everyone joined him.

"When's Bellamy getting here?" Clarke asked.

She hadn't seen him since Friday afternoon and that had been two days ago. At some point she realized that no one had corrected Raven when she said Clarke and Finn were in a relationship and Clarke felt the need to let him know that they weren't. She couldn't put her finger on why, but it bothered her that he might think she was with a person who he thought she hated. 

"You talk to him more than anyone else." Octavia was throwing grapes into the air for Lincoln to catch in his mouth. 

"Oh really?" Raven said in a suggestive tone and wagged her eyebrows at Clarke.

"That's not true, O. He lives with Miller." Clarke pointed at Miller. "When was the last time you saw him? Is there any possibility he's stuck in a well?"

"Lassie hasn't shown up yet, so I think he's safe from any wells." Miller chuckled. "I saw him this morning. He went to see his mom."

"He should be back by now. I'll call him." Octavia stood up and stepped away from the group to call her brother.

The rest of the group joked idly but everyone kept an eye on Octavia as her conversation escalated into heated whispers then turned to sad murmurs. Octavia hung up and took a moment to collect herself. She put on a brave, and completely false, smile and rejoined them. No asked her if everything was okay. The ones who knew her best knew not to ask her about her family life, and those who didn't know her all that well knew it wasn't their place to ask her.

"He'll be here in ten minutes." Octavia's voice wavered slightly and everyone pretended not to notice.

"Then we'd best start warming up." Monty pulled a Frisbee out of his messenger bag.

Jasper and Lincoln jumped up and ran to the soccer field. Monty threw the Frisbee for Jasper who caught it at a run and immediately threw it to Lincoln. Everyone else got up and jogged over to join them. Monty and Jasper separated the teams. Monty called Clarke, Wells, Finn, and Bellamy. Jasper called Raven, Miller, Octavia, and Lincoln. They stood in a circle and threw the Frisbee until Bellamy arrived.

"You're wearing jeans!" Monty yelled in mock anger. "I said no restrictive clothing!"

"I can play in my boxers if you'd like." He winked.

"You read my mind." Wells put his arm around Bellamy's shoulder and gave him a loud kiss on the cheek.

"Honey, we're in public." He pushed him away pretended to be embarrassed. 

"Focus up guys! I have a bet with Jasper and I  _do not_ want to lose it." Monty clapped once and ushered his team mates in for a huddle. "Here's the plan: short throws straight down, keep moving, stay open, avoid Lincoln. We don't need any concussions." He looked pointedly at Clarke. 

"It was just a bloody nose!" She said defensively.

"Don't worry Clarke, I'll more than willing to carry you all the way home." Finn smiled at her.

"Red's not your color, Princess. Just avoid elbows so your boyfriend doesn't have to play the knight in shining armor." Bellamy's tone was too bitter to be joking. For not the first time Clarke wondered why those two hated each other so much.

Finn and Bellamy took a second to glare at each other before running to opposite ends of the line behind the boundary.

"Maybe we should have made sure they were on opposite teams." Wells said to Monty and Clarke. 

"It'll be fine." Clarke said weakly. She clearly didn't believe her own words. 

From across the field Lincoln shouted 'ultimate!' and threw the Frisbee as far as he could. Bellamy only had to back up a few feet to catch it and ran up to the boundary. Wells was nearly to the middle of the field when Bellamy threw it and he caught it easily. Lincoln sprinted to Bellamy, whom he had been assigned to block. Jasper went to Finn, Raven went to Wells, Miller went to Monty, and Octavia went to Clarke. 

Octavia was a competitive person, but Clarke was fast when she wanted to be and she was able to get away from her long enough to catch the disk when Wells threw it to her. Monty caught it far above Miller's head. People tended to underestimate his ability to jump. Bellamy made a break for the end-zone and Monty threw the Frisbee so it would meet him there. He snatched it up a second before it touched the ground. Their entire team cheered and ran over to join him.

"Strong start guys." Monty gave high fives all around. "Let's keep it that way."

They scored two more points before the opposing team found their groove and scored five. Finn and Bellamy were losing their patience with each other.

"You realize I'm on your team, right?" Finn asked, getting a little too close to Bellamy.

"That's not a good enough reason to throw to you. Jasper's all over you." Bellamy's voice was loud enough for the other team to hear on the opposite end of the field.

"All right, guys." Monty shoved himself between them to create a barrier. "We're just two points behind. Calm down."

"So much for a friendly game of ultimate Frisbee." Clarke murmured to Wells.

"Yeah, we definitely should have separated them." 

They scored two more points and from then on it went back and forth until both teams had twenty-four points. 

"Next point wins?" Jasper called.

"Fine by us." Monty shouted back.

"Last chance ladies." Monty turned to his team.

"Any special last ditch effort plans?" Clarke asked.

"Wells, go down a third of the field. Bellamy, go down two thirds. Finn, get to the end-zone as fast as you can. I'll throw to Wells who will throw it to Bellamy who will throw it to Finn. Clarke, cause a distraction." Monty said in the voice of a true leader. 

"Distraction?" Clarke asked.

"You could flash them." Wells, Bellamy, and Monty all said at the same time.

"Tools." Clarke muttered and repressed her laughter. 

"Hands in." Monty put his hand out and waited until the others piled theirs on top of his. "Team Monty on three. One, two, three-."

"Team Monty!" They all shouted.

Their plan went perfectly at the start. Clarke weaved around the field, bumping into everyone long enough to distract them from their opponents. She sprinted to the end-zone just as Bellamy threw to Finn. Finn threw out his arms to catch it but it slipped through his fingers, bounced off his chest and headed straight for the ground. Clarke dove to her knees, fell onto her back and caught the Frisbee right under Finn's outstretched hands. Her entire team erupted in cheers, while their opponents groaned in disbelief. Before she knew what was happening Bellamy had pulled her off of the ground and threw her over his shoulder.

"Clarke for MVP!" He shouted with a fist pump. He spun around until she screamed and laughed.

"Maybe your girlfriend can teach you how to catch." Bellamy slapped Finn on the shoulder and it was the most civil thing he'd done the entire game.

"Yeah, that was pretty impressive, Clarke." Finn smiled at her.

"Thanks, but, uh, not his girlfriend." She slapped the Frisbee against Bellamy's chest and held it there until he took it with a smile.

"Victory slushies on me." Monty announced to his teammates. "Jasper has to do my laundry for a month so I think a little celebration is in order."

They met up with the others and made plans to meet at the nearest Circle K for refreshments and split into two groups so they would all fit into Lincoln and Wells's cars. Clarke was about to climb into Lincoln's back seat when she realized that Bellamy was alone in his car so she jogged over and joined him.

"Did I invite you over here?" He asked with a smile.

"No, but I didn't want you to be lonely. Don't pretend you don't enjoy my company." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well you did win us the game so I guess I won't leave you stranded here."

"How's your mom?" Clarke asked in a moment of bravery.

Bellamy glanced over at her with a mix of irritation and amusement that made her stomach flutter. 

"As good as can be expected." He answered reluctantly. "And no, I'm not saying any more than that."

They fell into a comfortable silence.

"So if you aren't with Finn then why did he kiss you the other night?" Bellamy asked easily, like he was asking what her favorite color was.

"I don't know." Clarke sighed. "He says he likes me. And we- um- had this one night together before I knew about Raven."

Clarke felt like a weight was lifted off of her chest. She had never told anyone about her short fling with Finn.

"A night as in sex?" Bellamy sounded shocked. "Was I right? Did he make you take care of yourself?"

"No, not sex." Clarke blushed. "We decided to go on a few dates before we went all the way, but before we even got one date in Raven showed up."

"So what? You guys did a little heavy petting and now he's in love with you?"

"We didn't just make out all night. We talked."

"Wow." Bellamy's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "That's beautiful."

"Shut up!" She swatted at him. "You can't tell anyone! Not even Octavia."

"Then why did you tell me?"

"I don't know. But I'm already beginning to regret it." She crossed her arms and glared at him like a child.

"Don't worry, Princess." He winked at her. "Your secrets safe with me."

Clarke smiled because she knew he was serious.

"Although if I ever get the chance to make fun of him for it I most certainly will." He added as they pulled into the parking lot where their friends were waiting. "And you don't know how much I love making fun of him."

 


	11. Chapter 11

Thelonious Jaha looked at Clarke with the kind of disappointment that was reserved by parents for children or very close nieces and nephews. She was practically a daughter to him, but he had never looked at her like that and it made her heart feel heavy.

"Please Uncle Thelo." She begged, pulling out the pet name she gave him when she was little and couldn't pronounce 'Thelonious'. "I'm just not ready to talk to her yet."

His expression softened as he pulled her into his arms. 

"I know, kiddo." He kissed her on the crown of her head. "I'll tell her you aren't coming."

She gave both Jaha men a kiss on the cheek before they climbed into their car and drove away. In less than an hour they would arrive at her Mother's house for Thanksgiving. She would stay at school and get ahead on homework. She had leftover chinese from the day before waiting for her in her fridge. 

The rest of her friends had left the day before to spend the whole weekend with their families. Even Raven had left to be with Finn's family who still loved her even though she was no longer with their son. 

They would all be back by Sunday afternoon and halfway through her lo mein Clarke decided to take full advantage of her solitude. Instead of doing homework she plugged her ipod into speakers and danced around her apartment singing disney songs with a feather boa around her neck. On Friday she switched to musicals until halfway through her over-dramatic rendition of 'I Dreamed a Dream' when Octavia got back. 

Both girls froze. The music blared on in the background. 

_Then I was young and unafraid_

_So dreams were made and used and wasted_

_There was no ransom to be paid_

_No song unsung_

_No wine untasted_

"If we're going to do this you better find a duet." Octavia tossed her bag on the couch and together they sang 'A Little Fall of Rain' with Clarke as Eponine and Octavia as Marius.

"Why are you back already?" Clarke asked after they stopped laughing when the song ended.

"I can only spend so much time with my Mom." Octavia shrugged. "It was time to come back. Besides, Bellamy's already back at work."

"Really?" Clarke asked. "He works a lot."

"He has to." Octavia shrugged again.

Clarke knew that if she pushed her friend she could get answers. Octavia would never lie to her and she wasn't one to avoid answering, but Clarke didn't want to force her into a conversation she didn't want to have. Octavia would come to her if she needed to and that was good enough for Clarke.

They spent the rest of their weekend in easy comfort. On Sunday afternoon Raven burst into the apartment and collapsed on the floor in front of the couch where Clarke and Octavia were sitting.

"That bad, huh?" Octavia pat their friend on the head.

"They spent the entire weekend asking about Miller and acting completely unimpressed." She mumbled into the carpet. "And then they would talk about how  _amazing_ Finn is and how  _proud_ they are are of him and his various accomplishments."

"What accomplishments?" Octavia asked.

"Barely graduating high school." Clarke offered.

"Only getting into college because he retook english in summer school." Octavia guessed.

"Almost getting tried as an adult when they caught him joyriding." Clarke bounced in her seat.

"Getting dumped by the hottest future engineer in the world!" Octavia and Clarke nudged her sides with their feet until she laughed and swatted at them.

"Our point, dear Raven, is screw them. Miller is awesome." 

"Yeah I know. It was just a pretty lame way to spend Thanksgiving." Raven pulled herself onto the sofa in between them.

"Shoulda stayed here with me. I would have even let you be Rapunzel when we sang 'I See the Light'." Clarke giggled.

"I can't believe I missed out on that opportunity." Raven sighed.

"Did you though?" Clarke ran to the ipod dock and started the song.

For the next three minutes and forty-four seconds Clarke and Raven stared into each others eyes as they sang and tried not to laugh as Octavia ran around the room holding up her phone and pretending to be a lantern.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah. It's been a while. And this is a pretty short chapter. I'm a terrible person. I have no excuses. I'm sorry.  
> To make it up to all of you lovely lovely folks that like this story (for whatever reason) the next chapter will include a certain someone and a certain other someone dancing at a fancy party.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a bit of a time jump here. Just know that nothing exciting happened between the last chapter and this one. Enjoy!

**December 18**

Clarke let Wells help her out of the car. Mostly because she didn't trust herself to stay upright in the heels she was wearing. 

He looked sharp in his tux and she definitely wasn't the only girl who noticed. 

"I am the envy of every girl in this place." Clarke whispered to Wells.

"Gee, Clarke. You're gorgeous, but I didn't think you were vain." Wells chuckled back.

"I meant that they're all jealous that I'm your date." She shoved him lightly but pushed herself more off balance.

Wells steadied her with a hand on her waist. "Whoa there. Try not to embarrass me in front of all my Dad's friends, please."

"I think you meant to say don't embarrass you in front of all your Dad's friend's hot daughters."

"Whatever." He laughed. "Let's get inside. It's cold out here."

Wells clutched her arm even tighter as they ascended the stone stairs that led into the hotel ballroom where Holiday party for Thelonious Jaha's favorite charity was being held. The tickets were five thousand a piece and the Dean had been kind enough to purchase an extra ticket for Clarke to come as Wells's date. Really Clarke could have gotten her own ticket, but she didn't want to ask her Mom for the money. They checked their coats and Clarke headed to the restroom to adjust her strapless dress and check her hair. When she came out Wells was already dancing with a pretty girl. 

"That's the Ambassador of Ecuador's daughter." Thelonious sidled up next to her and handed her a glass of champagne.

"Good for him." Clarke took a sip of champagne and snatched an hor d'oeuvre off of a tray being carried by a passing server. 

She took one bite and handed the rest off to Thelonious who laughed at the face she made.

"I hate calamari." She took another sip of the fizzy drink to wash away the taste of squid.

"It's a good thing I love it." He chuckled and popped the rest of her food into his mouth.

"What are you doing over here? Shouldn't you be rubbing elbows with future presidents or something?" Clarke tried her luck with another hor d'oeuvre from a different server and was pleasantly surprised by a simple danish.

"Just wanted to make sure you weren't lonely."

"Oh please. Any minute now a swarm of young suitors will make their way over here and beg for a dance."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, actually you might want to get out of the way for your own safety. They may trample you."

"All right." Jaha chuckled. "I know when I'm not wanted."

She watched him seamlessly join a group of elegant looking men and women. They were immediately laughing at something he said and they all looked when he pointed at her. Clarke felt her cheeks start to burn when she realized he could be telling them any number of stories about her. She almost decided it was time to melt into the crowd when one individual broke away from the group and started walking towards her. 

Bellamy Blake had one hand tucked into the pocket of his trousers and in the other he held a glass of what looked like brandy. His hair was slicked back in a way that she didn't like very much, but it was decidedly more professional than his usual wild curls. He smiled widely at her obvious shock from seeing him.

Since the semester had ended two days ago she had realized that she would be seeing him much less often than she had become used to. It surprised her how happy she was to see him and only the group of people (which included her almost-uncle) still watching them kept her from hugging him.

"Well well, Princess." He took her hand when he reached her and brought it to his lips as he bowed low. "You actually look like a princess."

"Stop it." She snatched her hand back but she couldn't keep from smiling. "What are you doing here?"

"Kane's date baled out last minute. He thought this might be a good opportunity for me to meet some people so he gave me his extra ticket."

"That was kind of him."

"I'm paying for it by being his TA for another semester." Bellamy grumbled. "The man's brilliant, but he works his assistants hard."

"At least you know he values you as a worker."

"Enough chit-chat, Princess." He took her glass and placed it next to his on a table. "Time for some dancing."

"Oh no." Clarke shook her head. "Not in these shoes."

She lifted up the hem of her skirt to show him her monstrous heels. 

"Take them off." Bellamy suggested.

"What?" Clarke almost laughed but she could tell he was being serious.

"Your dress is long enough that no one will notice. Just hand them here." He angled himself in front of her so no one in the room would be able to see what she was doing.

Without really knowing why, Clarke slipped off both of her pumps. The sudden change in height made her realize for the first time just how tall Bellamy was. He bent down and picked up her shoes. The table with their drinks on it had a table cloth that reached the floor so he slipped the shoes under the cloth and pulled her by the hand onto the dance floor.

"You know how to waltz?" Clarke asked when put his arm around her waist and held her other hand at shoulder level.

"I have absolutely no clue, but this is how everyone else is standing." He whispered.

"Do you want me to lead?" Clarke whispered back.

"I'm pretty sure that's my job." He took a moment to watch Wells who was dancing close to them.

"How about we do it together?" She put her hand on his shoulder.

"Good plan."

They started to move at the same moment. Somehow they managed to move around somewhat gracefully without one or the other being in charge. Every so often they stumbled or missed a beat, but they always found their footing quickly started to move with the rhythm again. Bellamy's frown of concentration turned into a smile as he got used to the steps. They didn't even pause when the song ended and a new one began. They bumped into a few couples when they weren't paying attention, but with a smile and an apology they went back to dancing.

Bellamy was so in tune with Clarke in that moment that it took him only half of a second to stop dancing when she froze in place.

"Clarke?" He looked at her, worried that he'd done something wrong, but she wasn't looking at him. He followed her gaze to the side of the room where a woman stood with Jaha.

If asked, he wouldn't say that Clarke looked like her mother. The set in her jaw, the way she stood, and the fire in her eyes all made it obvious that the woman was the very same that Clarke hadn't spoken to for months. 

Clarke pulled away from him but she didn't make it far before he grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. They were still in the middle of the dance floor so Bellamy resumed their position and started dancing again. This time he was definitely leading.

"We made a deal Clarke." He waited for her to look up at him before continuing. "Now seems like a pretty good chance for you to hold up your end of the bargain."

"You don't understand."

"Understand what? Growing up without a Father? Because I lost mine when I was way younger than you were. Blaming my Mom for that loss? He may not even know I'm alive because she never bothered to tell him. And my problems with my Mom go way deeper than that." He paused to keep his breathing in check. "God, Clarke, if only you knew."

"Then tell me."

"Oh no. You aren't changing the subject that easily." He laughed humorlessly. "What I'm trying to say is that she's your Mom and no matter what she's done she loves you. That's her job. She went through labor for you, changed your diapers, endured your terrible twos and rebellious teenager phases, helped you through your awkward stage. I witnessed your awkward stage, Clarke, so I know you needed a lot of help getting out of it."

"I'm just so mad at her Bellamy." Clarke's voice cracked. She stared straight at his chest so he couldn't see the tears in her eyes.

"Give her a chance to make it up to you as much as she can." 

After a moment Clarke nodded her head almost imperceptibly. She let Bellamy lead her through the crowd to where her Mother was still standing with Jaha. 

"Hello Mrs. Griffin." Bellamy said when they reached them.

"Hello Bellamy." The older woman smiled up at him and he saw that she, too, had tears in her eyes.

"Can we go talk somewhere?" Clarke asked quietly.

"Of course, Sweetheart." Abbey Griffin was trying very hard not to cry.

Bellamy handed her off to her mom and watched them walk to the restroom together.

 

Clarke and Abbey Griffin sat side by side on a sofa in the small waiting room off of the bathroom. Clarke stared at her bare toes that were peeking out from under her dress.

"The only thing I love more than your Father is you." Abbey said after nearly two minutes of silence. "My poor decision made me lose him. Wells's sacrifice kept me from losing you too. The only reason I let him do that is because if you had hated me immediately after I lost the love of my life I don't think I could have handled it."

"I don't hate you Mom." Clarke said through her tears. 

"Oh, my baby." Abbey pulled her daughter close and let her cry on her shoulder. Clarke wrapped her arms around her Mother's torso. "I don't ever expect you to forgive me for what I did. I just ask that you don't shut me out of your life."

"Why did you do it?"

"I didn't think he would get arrested. I didn't know that what he was doing was considered treason. I just knew that if he waited for them to find out after the fact that his punishment would be much worse. Five years in prison didn't seem as bad as life."

"I'm sorry I ignored you." Clarke pulled back just enough to wipe her eyes on a tissue so she didn't ruin her Mother's dress.

"You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about." Abbey rubbed her daughter's back.

"I promise never to cut you out ever again."

"Good." Abbey held her daughter out at arms length. "Now, what were you doing dancing with Bellamy Blake?"

There was a twinkle in her Mother's eye that let Clarke know exactly what she suspected was happening.

"He's just a friend."

"A handsome friend."

The Griffin ladies laughed as they stood up and saw themselves in the mirror.

"Well you can't go out with those raccoon eyes. You'll scare Bellamy away." Abbey handed her daughter a make-up removal wipe and together they fixed their make-up.

"How did no one need to go to the bathroom the whole time we were in here?" Clarke wondered aloud as they made their way to the door.

Her question was answered when she saw both Jaha men and Bellamy standing guard in front of it. None of them said anything as the women stepped out, but their stares asked a million questions.

"Does this mean the Jaha/Griffin Christmas Extravaganza is back on?" Wells asked cautiously.

Clarke looked to her Mother for the answer.

"Absolutely." She smiled. "Get me a guest list by tomorrow night and I'll get a menu made."

"Easy." Wells beamed. "Jasper, Monty, Octavia, Lincoln, Finn, Raven, Miller, and Bellamy."

Clarke held up a finger for each person her named. "Eight."

She looked over to where Bellamy had stood only a moment ago and found it empty. She found him almost immediately. He was very noticeable in his tux. There was always something sort of mysterious about him, but the tux put it on the next level. He looked like some dark, brooding Byronic hero. Clarke was sure that the only reason girls weren't flocking to him was because he seemed like the type of man who only noticed you from a distance. Clarke knew then that she probably really was the envy of ever girl there. She had arrived with one of the two most handsome bachelors there and danced with the other for quite some time.

Before she could reach him, Professor Kane appeared beside him. The older man said something and the younger man nodded. They waited patiently for her to reach them.

"Clarke, is your Mother Doctor Abbey Griffin?" Kane asked her.

"Yes." Clarke answered.

"I'm familiar with her work." He seemed almost in awe.

"Would you like me to introduce you?" Clarke tried not to grin, but it was obvious that her strict, no-nonsense professor was a fan of her mother and trying hard not to fangirl too much. 

"No need." Kane said when Jaha noticed him and waved him over. He left Clarke and Bellamy alone without another word.

"That's kinda weird." Bellamy said when Kane was far enough away not to hear him.

"What? That one of my professors has a crush on my mom?" Clarke laughed.

"Yeah." He laughed too.

"What are you doing on Christmas Eve?"

"Staying up all night and waiting for Santa." Bellamy deadpanned.

Clarke gave him an incredulous look.

"I have a bone to pick with him and I'm not giving up until I have my Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots." He was completely serious.

"Okay, well for the first part of the night you and your sister are coming over to my house for the best Christmas party in the whole entire world. My Mom and I bake the entire day and there's ham and turkey and sweet potato casserole and a bunch of old people and all of our friends. Then you can go home and beat up Santa Claus."

He pause, seeming to mull it over. "What's the attire?"

"Casual."

"Really? I'm kind of loving this tux." He smirked. "And you look pretty good in that dress, Princess."

Something about the way he said it made her stomach flutter. Bellamy Blake had never had that effect on her before. She stared at him with her mouth hanging open until he put a finger under her chin and chuckled.

"I'll be there." He lifted up the table cloth on the table next to him and scooted her shoes out with his foot. "Now if you'll excuse me, I should probably go mingle."

He held a hand out to help her balance as she put her shoes back on.

"Thank you for making me go talk to my mom." Clarke said before he walked away.

"Anytime, Clarke." He backed away from her slowly. "See you in six days."


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy cow, I either update this twice in two days or once every three months, there is no in between. My humblest apologies for the delay.
> 
> There will be another time jump in the next chapter and then about three to five chapters after that, depending on where I decide to take this story.
> 
> Thanks everybody for your support!

Clarke ran down the stairs with as much grace as a drunk duck on a stair-climber. She raced into the kitchen and remembered she was wearing fluffy socks on the slick tile floor just in time to catch herself on the counter right next to where her mom was standing.

For as long as she could remember Christmas Eve morning was accompanied by the smell of her mom baking. Getting to the kitchen fast enough meant she got to try everything when it was still warm.

"Make yourself useful and get started on the snow cap cookies." Abbie said and handed her daughter a mixing bowl.

"Good morning to you too, Mom." Clarke rolled her eyes but took the bowl with a smile.

"Good morning, sweetheart." She kissed Clarke on the cheek and pointed to where the ingredients for the cookies were in a neat pile.

They spent their entire morning, and some of the afternoon, making every type of fudge, cookie, pie, or cake that they could think of. The Griffin/Jaha Christmas Party was for major sweet tooths only, but by the time they were done Clarke had tasted at least everything once and the only thing she craved was Thelonious's honey baked ham. 

The Dean and his son arrived exactly three hours early and the ham went straight into the oven. 

"It is completely unfair that you get to eat all the sweets as soon as you get here but I have to suffer while the smells of that glorious ham waft all through the house." Clarke complained dramatically as she and Wells strung extra Christmas lights in the game room where they would be spending the party with their friends. "Then when I finally get some there are a bunch of other people here eating it too."

"You poor thing." Wells popped another square of fudge into his mouth. "However do you cope?"

"I imagine tying you up in Christmas lights and hanging you upside down out the window."

"Well, at least everyone would know which has the party's at." He smirked.

Twenty minutes later the first guests started arriving. 

"Do you think it would kill our friends to be on time to something?" Wells asked Clarke as they watched their parent's friends mingle. 

"Most of them would most likely be okay, but Bellamy would probably spontaneously combust." Clarke giggled. 

Their friends finally arrived, forty minutes late. They shuffled in as one big group and eyed the collection of professionals warily.

"Guys they aren't going to eat you." Wells laughed. "They probably won't even try to talk to us."

"Go get food." Clarke ushered them toward the kitchen where the smorgasbord was laid out.

"Professor Kane is here?" Finn whispered harshly. He hadn't done so well in his class. "I was hoping I'd never see him again."

"Well apparently he and my mom are friends now." Clarke grimaced. She didn't like it much either.

"I should probably go say hello." Bellamy sighed. "He'll probably want to introduce me to some more people, too. Where will you guys be? Who knows how long this will take."

"Up the stairs second door to the right." Clarke pointed to the stairs. "And remember that you're here to have fun so don't let him rope you in to talking about internships with every person in there. And if I here the telltale sounds of a ceremony for selling your soul to some business then I am going to come down here and make a big scene and ruin your chances."

She poked him in the chest as she spoke. 

"I'm counting in it, Princess." He swatted her hand away and walked bravely up to the adults in the next room.

"Look at him, playing the grown up." Miller laughed. 

They went upstairs and immediately started a game of Cards Against Humanity, leaving a spot for Bellamy between Clarke and Miller. Raven won, which was no surprise to anyone. Apples to Apples followed but didn't last long since Jasper and Monty were the only ones to win any of the rounds. Then a game of Mafia. Bellamy still hadn't shown up. 

The entire group crept down the stairs and peered at him through the railing as he laughed at some joke that probably wasn't even funny.

"That traitorous fool." Jasper whispered. "He's abandoned us for the enemy. We shall have to make a lesson of him."

"Murder is our only choice now." Money nodded in agreement. "Women, you should go back to the safety of our camp. Leave this to the menfolk."

Octavia swatted at both boys. "I won't let you kill my poor brother. I just won't."

Lincoln snaked his arms around Octavia's waist. "Go now, I'll hold her back."

Everyone suppressed giggles once they got over the shock of Lincoln actually joining in on a joke. Finn was going to say something but his mouth was left hanging open when he noticed Dean Jaha exiting the kitchen and stopping short when he saw them on the stairs. They all did their best to look like they were casually hanging out in a tight bunch on a dark stairway.

"What are you doing?" Jaha asked suspiciously.

"Well we certainly aren't planning a murder to seek revenge for being abandoned by someone we once thought a faithful member of our crew. Why would you think such a thing?" Wells answered.

"Mmhmm." Jaha backed away from them with his eyes narrowed to slits. "Just take it outside. It's be a shame to ruin the carpet."

They scrambled up the stairs and into the game room before letting themselves burst into hysterical fits of laughter. When they settled down they gathered in front of the t.v. to watch A Muppet's Christmas Carol. Ebeneezer Scrooge hadn't even met the ghost of Christmas present before everyone but Clarke was asleep. It wasn't until Scrooge was asking some kid what day it was that Bellamy slipped into the room. He leaned on the doorway and chuckled at the pile of sleeping friends.

Clarke carefully slipped from her place on the couch and tip toed over to him. She pulled him by the sleeve into her room down the hall.

"What are you doing?" He asked when she didn't even turn on the light.

"Hold on." She crouched down next to her bed and pulled something out from under it, then she led him to her window which they crawled out of to sit on the roof. "I didn't get any of the other boys a present so I decided it would be best to give this to you privately."

She handed him a box wrapped in bright red paper.

"Why'd you get me a present?" He eyed her warily.

"Because you've been pretty great lately and I thought you deserved it." She shrugged.

"I didn't get you anything."

"I don't care. Open the present before I do."

He gave a small laugh before carefully tearing open the wrapping paper.

"Wow. You are  _no_ fun." Clarke took the paper from him and started to crumple it.

"Hey don't!" He snatched it back. "I could reuse this."

He set the paper down on the other side of him and ignored the face she made, focusing instead on the box in his lap.

"Rock 'em sock 'em robots." He smiled at her.

"Merry Christmas Bellamy Blake."

His eyes flicked to her lips for a millisecond and he begged the powers that be to keep her from noticing. He opened up the box and quickly assembled the game.

"Blue or red?" He asked her.

"Blue."

They sat facing each other with the game between them. Clarke won eight games before Bellamy declared it defective.

"You rigged it." He crossed his arms and pouted.

"Nope. You're a grown up now. You can't beat a kid at a kid's game." 

"Are you mad at me for spending the entire party down there?"

"No." Clarke answered honestly. "I understand why you did it."

"I didn't want to. The entire time I was down there I wanted to be up here with you." He smiled.

"And everyone else." He added quickly.

"Speaking of everyone else." She stood up and crawled back through her open window. "We'd best get in there before they notice we're gone."

Bellamy put his new game back in the box and followed her back to the game room. They decided against waking their friends so Clarke found a deck of cards and they settled down at the table to play war. Only after they got in a fight about whether or not Bellamy was cheating did everyone else wake up. 

"It's a Christmas miracle!" Jasper exclaimed and plopped himself on Bellamy's lap. "I want a pony and an xbox and a girlfriend."

"Sorry kid, you're on the naughty list." Bellamy laughed. "You get coal and another year of snuggling with Monty when you're lonely."

"Why are you punishing me for his crimes?" Monty asked loudly.

Three hours later Wells and Clarke were left alone on her doorstep as their friends went home.

"Best Christmas ever?" Wells asked.

"Yeah, pretty much."

**Author's Note:**

> I'll post new chapter whenever they're finished so it could take days or it could take a week. Like or comment if you want to. I'm also open to suggestions for the plot line and I adore constructive criticism and those who give it to me!


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